Jolie, Malkovich, Hopkins CGI - possibilities for the future ?

[Mooncat]

Saw this piece of digital sculpting and thought wow :

Imagine if all you needed where their voices and technology could do the rest. I know it will have its critics as CG usually does but its getting better and better theres no denying that. Maybe not now but in the future your not gonna be able to tell the difference

Taken from : https://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/beowulf/

The possibilities though .................

Imagine the sequel to ROTJ with them as as young as they were in ROTJ ?

Get the story written get the voices recorded for Hammil, Fisher and Ford now

So that in 10 years time I can go back to 1983 again ! Get Leia back in that bikini

 

[bwayne]

I don't think Ford will ever Return to the Star Wars universe. Personally, after viewing the prequals, I would rather Lucus just leave the originals alone. Let him play with the Clone Wars rather that butcher the originals more than he already has!

 

[Mooncat]

Ok maybe not SW

how about Serenity ?

 

[Collector Freak]

That is so pointless since it's just an unchanged image of the actor.

 

[Mooncat]

That is so pointless since it's just an unchanged image of the actor.

The voice of logic and reason has spoken

 

[Shropt]

I see this as the future. I honestly think that this kind of animation is what Lucas is waiting for before he makes any more true sequels to SW.

But I must ask, why not use real actors? Movies like ROTS, ROTK, and Sky Captain have proven that you can use real actors and have everything else CG. Why do fake actors now without looking like you are doing it simply for publicity?

 

[bagelsncheesey]

That is so pointless since it's just an unchanged image of the actor.

now that's what i call tact.

 

[Mooncat]

I see this as the future. I honestly think that this kind of animation is what Lucas is waiting for before he makes any more true sequels to SW.

But I must ask, why not use real actors?

Agreed inmo they should use real actors if they can be used,
use the tool where its best needed

However if you want to stick Carrie Fisher as she is now back in a bikini, or Jabbas palace leia from 83 back in a bikini then id say the latter

Agreed only do that when you cant tell the technical difference but thats not long off inmo

Not long off if this kinda stuff is pushing the boundaries

 

[Darthrazz]

This is the future, think of it. Didn't Arnold just sell his digital image rights for the next Terminator series? As much as I prefer real actors this is going to lead to having movies starring actors long gone. Old retired actors can sit at home and collect royalties from new movies that they are starring in, forever young or old, whatever the part calls for. I can see it now, once the technology makes a CG and human indistinguishable Lucas will remake the OT with all the special effects bells and whistles he's always wanted. And that day I hang up my Star Wars hat and never look back.

 

[EVILFACE]

Agreed inmo they should use real actors if they can be used,
use the tool where its best needed

However if you want to stick Carrie Fisher as she is now back in a bikini, or Jabbas palace leia from 83 back in a bikini then id say the latter

Agreed only do that when you cant tell the technical difference but thats not long off inmo

Not long off if this kinda stuff is pushing the boundaries

why go back to Carrie Fisher? Way hotter women to go back to.

Anyone, I don't like it. The older actors do not match up with their earlier self. Case in poing, Eastwood recently adding his voice to some reinserted parts in The Good Bad and the Ugly. The older voice of his didn't match up a bit with the original parts and just took you out of the film.

Aslo as good as CGI has gotten, the human eyes still have no life and makes them too freaky. Now something like Davey Jones worked, cause they used the actors real eyes.

 

[Mooncat]

Now something like Davey Jones worked, cause they used the actors real eyes.

Ahhh the windows to the soul

Agreed but im talking 10 years from now

Surely thats acheivable ?

 

[Entropy]

Aslo as good as CGI has gotten, the human eyes still have no life and makes them too freaky. Now something like Davey Jones worked, cause they used the actors real eyes.

This was certainly true for Polar Express, what Robert Zemeckis I heard refers to as version 1.0, but he insists that they've worked out the kinks and Beowulf will be at least version 2.0 if not later with special attention paid to fix the dead doll eye look.

I just listened to the making of Davey Jones doc. on PotC- Dead Man's Chest a few days ago and whereas they kept Geoffry Rush's eyes for the CotBP CGI skeleton, the animators said they were very proud that Davey Jones is completely CGI - eyes and all.

One reason I heard why they are choosing the CGI/facial capture route is that the story calls for Beowulf to age, young Beowulf fights Grendel and old King Beowulf fights the dragon. Sure they could've done it with old age appliances, but this is Zemeckis who loves to push the technological barriers and this was his chance to try his hand at improving his Polar Xpress tech.

 

[galactiboy]

I wonder how long before the Porn industry gets a hold of this?

 

[EVILFACE]

They've been doing it for years.

 

[darthviper107]

This was certainly true for Polar Express, what Robert Zemeckis I heard refers to as version 1.0, but he insists that they've worked out the kinks and Beowulf will be at least version 2.0 if not later with special attention paid to fix the dead doll eye look.

I just listened to the making of Davey Jones doc. on PotC- Dead Man's Chest a few days ago and whereas they kept Geoffry Rush's eyes for the CotBP CGI skeleton, the animators said they were very proud that Davey Jones is completely CGI - eyes and all.

One reason I heard why they are choosing the CGI/facial capture route is that the story calls for Beowulf to age, young Beowulf fights Grendel and old King Beowulf fights the dragon. Sure they could've done it with old age appliances, but this is Zemeckis who loves to push the technological barriers and this was his chance to try his hand at improving his Polar Xpress tech.

Yeah, Davey Jones was completely CG, including the eyes. They had done the makeup on his eyes just in case they had to use them but they never ended up needing to.

Personally I don't see much of a point in making Beowulf all CG, most of the time they make all-CG films because of the setting in that it would be expensive for the sets or it would just be really hard to do in real life anyway. But Beowulf doesn't seem all that grand, personally I think they could make the characters more realistic, but it still looks good.

I'm in 3D planning on doing Visual effects for films, so I do know this stuff, currently you won't be seeing actors completely left out of the process, they'll still be used for motion capture and 3D scanning and of course voice acting, but it's going to be like it is for a while.

 

[Entropy]

I don't see actors ever being left out of the equation. Audiences want to see a performance. The animators cite the little lip 'pop' Davey Jones/Bill Nigh makes when bartering with Sparrow as an example of something a team of animators would never think of or commit to. It's like scripts being written or films directed by a computer program, it ain't gonna happen. No machine will ever write 'Casablanca'.

 

[darthviper107]

I actually do think it could happen. As far as animation goes there's already programs out there that can create character animation from nothing (it's being used in the new Star Wars video game and Grand Theft Auto IV for some stuff) and it's easy to have a computer create many types of human models from nothing also (A program called Poser does than, then there's Facegen) and while voices aren't that great right now, I'm sure they could get those going well pretty soon.

 

[Murderofcrows71]

I had heard a while ago that a new Bruce Lee movie was in works with real actors and a CG Bruce. I remember reading that the Lee family had already ok'd the use of his likeness, but that was a year or more ago.

 

[The Mike]

I could see Lucas loving this. Voice actors are voice actors and if Ford wouldn't do it, they'd just get someone who sounds like him (or enough for the producers) and go greenlight. I agree that actors will never be taken out of the equation and that the technology isn't perfect yet but i think this will be the future with actors creating master digital likenesses that their talent agencies will hold copyright to and they'll be getting millions of dollars for the techs to download the files and get to work.

 

[Buttmunch]

I think this could be a very neat way to keep using actors (from when ever in their age) after they have died or just gotten too old. For example, this would have been neat to do with Dumbledore. After Harris died, they could have used his digital double to keep with continuity.

All that really needs to be done is to have actors recorde certain sounds/dialouge that could be used to form any dialouge latter (similar to the lines people have to speak in the Mission Impossible movies).

I don't see this really replacing living actors though, but could see it seriously be used on dead actors. Wouldn't it be cool to have people like Boris Karloff and John Wayne in movies with contemporary actors (assuming it is handled right and not just a cheap effect). It could have been away to get Connery in Indy 4.